Holy laughter is a term used within charismatic Christianity that describes a religious behaviour in which individuals spontaneously laugh during church meetings.
[1] John Wesley encountered uncontrollable laughter in his Methodist meetings, and viewed it as an act of God.
[3] The practice came to prominence in meetings led by the South African evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne in 1993 at the Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland, Florida and was often accompanied by the "Slain in the Spirit" phenomena.
[10] Margaret Poloma of the University of Akron has described the events of the services as a ritual facilitation of catharsis.
Though some religious leaders such as Pat Robertson embraced the movement, groups including the Christian Research Institute[8] and the Southern Baptist Convention condemned what was occurring.